The Minoan Volcanic Eruption: Bronze Age 1600 BC
The cluster of islands known as Santorini is unique. Possibly the only volcano with a caldera reaching the sea, the last major eruption occurred during the Minoan Bronze Age 3,600 years ago.
Santorini is one of the 5 volcanic centers that make up the volcanic arc of the southern Aegean. Rising from the deep blue of the sea, the volcanic rocks are dotted with sparkling white houses and blue-domed churches, resembling snow-capped mountains
The island of Santorini is the result of a complex history of volcanic eruptions over about 2 million years, during which the island changed shape and size repeatedly.
Ash fell widely in the eastern Mediterranean and Turkey and volcanic ash was found as far away as Japan. The eruption also caused some damage to the Minoan civilization on the island of Crete.
The Kameni Islands were created after the caldera. Eleven eruptions since 197 BC. have made the two islands. The most recent eruption in Santorini was in 1950 in Nea Kameni, the northern island. The eruption was phreatic and lasted less than a month. It built a dome and produced lava flows.
